"Is the sky sad when it rains?"
How can a baby who can't talk at all as a newborn end up asking questions like that by age three or four? Most of us can't remember going through the toddler stage between one and two, but those who do may also recall how "adult talk" sounded like a foreign language!

Do you remember the French you took? In reality, learning our first language was more demanding than any foreign language. What we had to do before we could produce our first meaningful word -- much less string words together in more ways than there are atomic particles in the known universe -- is nothing short of miraculous.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Months before we started talking, we already knew a lot about the feelings and intentions of others from hearing them talk and seeing their expressions, postures, and actions. By six months, infants already understand many words.2 Babies of a few months also figure out a lot about adult intentions, feelings, and events.